Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I wanted to drop everyone a note that there have been a few car break-ins in Wallingford recently in the Lynn Drive / Parker farms area.I do not have much in the way of details on this other than what the victims have shared and that is just general information that items from within the car were taken.With that in mind I would like to remind everyone firstly to be a little extra aware than normal of your own car and your neighbors. At the same time I wanted to offer up these “regular” Car Break Prevention Tips-- Leave at home items attractive to thieves-- Put your junk in the trunk! And put items attractive to thieves in your trunk before you arrive at your destination.-- Putting the items in your trunk while at your parking spot can tip off a thief that you have good stuff to steal.-- Never leave anything visible inside your vehicle! This is the single most important thing you can do to prevent your car window being smashed and your valuables stolen.-- Thieves take things you might think are worthless, smashing your car windows while doing so.-- Take with you / leave at home or store in your trunk things like:-- GPS units (always wipe off the suction cup ring on your windshield – that ring is a dead give‐away to a thief that a GPS is in the car). GPS units are the most common items stolen in car breaks.-- Handbags, purses, wallets, gym bags, briefcases. These are the second most stolen items.-- Cell phones-- MP3 players-- Chargers (even if you hide your electronics, if the thief sees the charger he’ll break in on the assumption that the GPS, phone, or MP3 player is hidden under your seat or in your trunk)-- Stereo faceplates, satellite radios-- Radar detectors-- Loose change. To some, your spare change is a fortune. A thief will break your car window to steal your 73 cents-- CDs, DVDs-- Laptops and cases-- Park in a well‐lit spot with lots of foot traffic.-- Avoid parking on isolated side streets.-- Park in attended lots.-- Roll up your car windows all the way, and lock your doors. Engage your car alarm, but DO NOT depend on it to deter a thief much. A car thief can break in and get out of your car in about 30 seconds, too short for the alarm to scare away most of them.

What to do if you see a car break‐in in progress:-- Call 911 and tell the police.-- When talking to 911, try to give as much as possible of the following:---- LOCATION: such as an address or block number, or a specific location in a parking lot.---- DESCRIPTION OF THE THIEF: provide as much as you can, such as sex, race, age, height, weight, hair color and length, color and length of facial hair, colors and style of clothing, and identifying marks such as tattoos.---- DIRECTION: give the direction of travel if the thief flees. If the thief flees on a bicycle, describe the color and type of bike.---- DESCRIPTION OF THE VICTIM’S CAR.Hopefully this recent rash is "drive by" and will not be repeated and / or the police will be able to address but in the meantime keep an extra eye out.Be smart / be safe

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Wallingford’s Ranee Bibisi has been fundraising the Bike CT Challenge to benefit cancer survivors. She is planning to partake in the 50 mile ride to support the Connecticut Challenge and help provide important resources for cancer survivors and has a personal fundraising goal set of just $750.00. With six more days to go she is about halfway there and I am sure Wallingford can help take her the rest of the way.

The Connecticut Challenge will take place on July 26-27. Proceeds from her ride will fund unique programs and research to help cancer survivors through exercise, nutrition and psychosocial support.

As quoted from her fundraising page: “Cancer survivors need follow-up care for life and I am helping them. I hope you will support my efforts by making a secure online donation here or printing out a donor form and sending it in with a check. All cancer survivors will benefit.”

Friday, July 19, 2013

WALLINGFORD — A sometimes contentious discussion was held at Tuesday evening’s Town Council meeting on the proposed removal of 28 trees along Quinnipiac Street between Washington Street and Route 5.

The discussion was prompted by Councilor Nick Economopoulos, who said he is concerned that an arborist wasn’t consulted about work being planned, or for past downtown tree work. Economopoulos claimed that Public Works Director and Tree Warden Henry McCully said last year, during a hearing on the removal of six trees at Fishbein Park, that an arborist would be consulted in the future.

“I’m not going to dispute that,” McCully said, adding that the last time he spoke to an arborist was more than 10 years ago.

Over the next two years, McCully said, trees uptown and downtown would be replaced, but the type of trees that will replace them is still unknown. Not every tree will be replaced, he said; about 100 are marked for replacement.

“The trees are obviously overgrown and should be replaced,” McCully said.

Most trees in those areas were planted in the mid-1990s, others in the early 1990s, he said. In his time as tree warden, McCully said, trees have been replaced three times.

Overall, the project is estimated to cost about $65,000, McCully said, with the replacement of the 28 trees on Quinnipiac Street estimated at $15,700. The town has a tree removal and planting company under contract, he said. Trees cost about $268 each.

McCully and Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said that this will not be the last time trees are replaced.

“Are you telling me 12 years from now we’re going to do it again?“ Economopoulos said.

“Will this be the last time trees are cut down? Absolutely not,” Dickinson said. Economopoulos was also displeased that a public hearing required by state statute on the removal of trees has been scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday at Town Hall.

“I’m the one who requested it, and I can’t be there,” he said.

Town Councilor Jason Zandri and his father, Geno, both suggested that hearings be held at times more convenient to the public.

McCully said he held last year’s public hearing on tree removal at 3 p.m. “I don’t see why 4 p.m. is all of a sudden difficult,” he said.

At one point, Council Chairman Bob Parisi had to slam his gavel to bring order to the meeting, as Economopoulos took offense to Councilor John LeTourneau’s remark that “It’s amazing we’re having an in depth discussion over trees.”

LeTourneau said trees shouldn’t even be planted downtown because there is not enough room between sidewalks and buildings.

“I believe Henry has been doing the right thing,” he said.

Jason Zandri said business owners in the area should be surveyed to see what they want.

“I would really like us to accommodate their concerns,” he said.

Councilor John Sullivan said he would like trees to be replanted; “I just want to make sure we take a lot of care in terms of layout.”

McCully said there is a desire to keep the layout as is, and to plant new trees in the holes where old trees are removed. It’s easier to plant them in the spot they were removed,he said. To his knowledge, McCully said, the trees are not regularly trimmed and are only pruned on an as-needed basis.

Jared Liu, a Wallingford resident with a background in urban forestry in the Washington, D.C., area, said during the meeting that to cut several trees down at once is “incredibly unprecedented.”

Typically, every fifth tree should be replaced every five years, he said, so that a replacement cycle is created.

Taking all the trees down at once “would create a lot of problems,” he said.

Liu suggested that the town consult with the state’s urban forester, who can give the town free advice. He also suggested the town look into grant and loan programs with the U.S. Small Business Administration, The U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. If there is enough interest in town, he also said state forestry officials can help organize a volunteer citizen action group that could help perform necessary labor at no charge to the town.

Paul Pender, who owns The Old Dublin on Quinnipiac Street, said he initiated tree removal when he lobbied the town to remove four trees from in front of his business because people could not see his sign.

“My only concern is my business,” he said. “I can’t blame Mr. McCully for any of this. He’s under direction from the mayor and the council.”

The public hearing on Friday will not be televised, McCully said. Several residents asked that the meeting be televised, or audio be recorded, but Dickinson said staff is not available. McCully said he would take note of all objections and render a decision by Monday.

Dickinson said that before fall, another meeting will be held by either the Town Council or Wallingford Center Inc. — which played a part in the decision to remove the trees — in order to discuss replacement plans.

Councilor John LeTourneau said trees shouldn’t even be planted downtown because there is not enough room between sidewalks and buildings. Councilor Jason Zandri said business owners in the area should be surveyed to see what they want.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

WALLINGFORD —Masonicare Health Center, 22 Masonic Ave., is hosting several musical performances through Aug. 29. Bring lawn chairs and blankets. Concert times are 6:30 to 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted. There will be free parking. Concerts may be canceled if it rains; in this case, call (203) 679-5900 after 3 p.m. for the latest weather related information.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

WALLINGFORD — Wallingford Public Library, 200 N. Main Street, welcomes all members of the community to participate in an anonymous online survey.

The feedback from the survey will enable the library to deliver the best possible materials, programs, and services.

Survey results will be reflected in the library’s forthcoming strategic plan. The survey is available in English and Spanish from the library’s website: http://www.wallingfordlibrary.org/Paper copies are available at the library and the Yalesville branch at 400 Church St., Yalesville.

WALLINGFORD — Shortly after the town was founded in 1667, only two streets had names: Long Highway and Cross Highway, according to Town Historian Bob Beaumont. Today, Long Highway is known as North Main and South Main streets. Cross Highway is known as Ward Street, which may have been a tribute to the Ward silversmiths.

Cross Highway, or Ward Street, was one of four streets that ran across North Main and South Main streets. The other three are now known as North Street, Christian Street and Center Street. Beaumont said he isn’t sure why those streets didn’t have names during the early days.

Cross Highway was used by the town’s founding fathers for laying out property given to people who helped with the founding of the town, according to Beaumont.

“When the town was founded, the town fathers ended up allocating six-acre house lots to each of the planters involved in the founding of Wallingford,” he said. “Between Ward Street and Center Street, there were a total of five lots over that distance.”

“The surprising thing to me is that you have Center Street, which is the main street today. That’s where the church was, which was a very important place in the community,” he said. “Why that street had no name, I have no clue.”

Beaumont said Cross Highway was where a few well known people owned property. One of them, Nathaniel Merriman was one of the town’s founders and even represented Wallingford in the legislature, according to Jerry Farrell Jr., president of the Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust.

Farrell believes he was the reason that a section of Ward Street between Quinnipiac Street and Route 5 used to be known as Merriman Street.

Merriman owned property on the northwest corner of Cross and Long highways, Beaumont said. In the 1800s, the new owner of Merriman’s property was William Ward, who used the house for his business of making and selling and sold beaver and wool hats, Beaumont said.

But it was William Ward’s sons who would go on to have a more well-known business. From the 1830s to the 1850s, Henry and Smith Ward were silversmiths who made pewter coffeepots and teapots, Beaumont said. Today, some of the Wards’ pots can be found on online auction sites.

“During the 1840s, they were one of the few silver manufacturers in Wallingford and Meriden,” Farrell said. “It was a period of which the silver industry was just getting started.”

“They were making a transition from single handcrafted items of silver to mass manufacture,” he said. “They probably were implementing manufacturing processes even though their own background was in handcrafted items. They weren’t 100 percent hand crafted or 100 percent manufactured, but they were turning out large volumes.”

To power the machines they used, Beaumont said, the brothers “had a horse on a treadmill.”

“The concept is no different than running a mill, which is run by water power,” he said.

Beaumont said he wasn’t sure what happened to the Ward brothers after the 1850s, but their shop was sold and moved out of town. It’s likely their father stayed in Wallingford, he said.

Given the Wards’ significant role in the growth of the silver industry in this area, both Beaumont and Farrell believe it’s likely Ward Street was named after them and their businesses.

WALLINGFORD — A public hearing regarding the removal of trees on Quinnipiac Street will be held at Town Hall on Friday, according to a notice posted on the town’s website.

The town has announced plans to replace 28 trees on Quinnipiac Street, between Washington Street and Route 5. Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said the plan is to continue replacing trees moving up Center Street to Main Street. There are 40 trees lining Center Street between Route 5 and Main Street. There is a mixture of pear and oak trees planted in the downtown area. They were planted as part of the town’s streetscape improvement program in the mid-1990s.

Friday’s hearing, to be held at 4 p.m. in council chambers, is strictly “for the purpose of tree removal on Quinnipiac Street from Washington Street to Route 5,” the notice states.

Last week, Public Works Director Henry McCully, who is the town’s tree warden, said a public hearing on the subject “is the proper procedure” according to state statute.

The trees planted downtown are supposed to be replaced every so often, he said.

“They are not the types of trees you expect to be here a hundred years from now,” he said.

After the hearing, McCully said he will make his final decision whether to proceed with the replacement program. It will cost the town an estimated $15,000 to follow through with the replacement of trees downtown, he said.

“If people want to object, I will take all of their objections into consideration,” Mc-Cully said. “I’ll make a final decision based on their consideration.”

Tonight’s Town Council meeting will include a discussion on downtown tree removal, prompted by Town Councilor Nick Economopoulos. The meeting will be held in council chambers at 6:30 p.m.

In his July 1 email request to have the discussion placed on the meeting’s agenda, Economopoulos asked Town Council Chairman Bob Parisi that an update on “the entire place for all ornamental tree replacements” be provided by McCully. Economopoulos requested that schematics and locations be provided for tree removal. He asked for the types of trees being removed, as well as the types of trees that will replace them. Also, he requested “the past ten years of cost annually for the licensed arborist to prune the entire streetscape area ...”

“Also please include the future plans of these trees long term,” Economopoulos wrote.

In response to the councilor’s request, McCully wrote a memo to Dickinson on July 8 stating that the plan for tree removal “is to address all trees in the downtown and uptown areas during the next two years.”

McCully said in the memo that the trees to be removed on Quinnipiac are Capital Callery pears. The types of trees to replace them “are still to be determined,” he wrote. In regards to the cost for an arborist, McCully said an arborist was not used. The long term plan for downtown trees is “maintenance as needed,” McCully said.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

WALLINGFORD - Travelers on Route 5 pass numerous restaurants. Recently, three of them closed down, but town officials don’t see that as symptomatic of a deeper problem.

The shuttered restaurants — MJ Duke’s, KFC and Basil’s Pizza Restaurant — are alongside one another. The businesses across the street have been thriving.

“The bad news is that it’s always sad to see any business close,” said Doreen DeSarro, business recruiter for the town’s Economic Development Department. “The good news is that there isn’t a vacancy problem on Route 5.”

While businesses close, the length of time a building remains vacant, for the most part, is short, DeSarro said.

“It’s not like a building is vacant there for two years or even six months,” she said. “People see three signs in a row and there’s a little bit of a concern. But the other part is that every time there is a vacant space, there is an opportunity for someone else to come in.”

Joe Mirra, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, said the fact that a bakery is moving into the former KFC location “says a lot about that strip. People see the potential.”

Route 5 also runs through Meriden and North Haven. In North Haven, First Selectman Michael Freda said northern Washington Avenue has proven to be “an economic development challenge.”

“We have property owners holding to a price that prospective buyers don’t want to pay. Some buildings need remediation, which is cleanup from contamination,” Freda said.

Since becoming first selectman at the end of 2009, Freda has made economic development a top priority. He said the Quinnipiac Frank H. Netter, M.D., School of Medicine on Bassett Road, off Washington Avenue, will bring in “a whole new demographic” that will change northern Washington Avenue. To address that new demographic, Freda said, the town has hired the Connecticut Economic Resource Center to conduct an economic development study. “That will demonstrate ... what types of businesses that northern Washington Avenue will need to support the emerging demographics of Quinnipiac University professors, administrators and postgraduate medical students,” Freda said.

While Freda and other North Haven officials deal with their Route 5 challenge, Meriden City Planner Dominick Caruso said the city’s stretch of the road hasn’t been a problem. Caruso said he hasn’t noticed significant vacancies. Businesses have been doing well, he said.

“We’re always concerned about vacant buildings, wherever, in the city, but that hasn’t come across my radar in that specific section as a problem area,” Caruso said. “It’s just the opposite. I got off the phone within the last week with the owners of Town Line Plaza and they told me all their spaces are rented.”

While future tenants of Basil’s and MJ Duke’s buildings have yet to come forward,a Hartford-based bakery is already planning to move into the former KFC. Mozzicato DePasquale Bakery and Pastry Shop bought the building from Robert P. Fulmer on June 27 for $600,000. It already has locations in Hartford and Plainville.

The former Friendly’s restaurant in the Wallingford Plaza, 956 N. Colony Road, has been vacant for a year. Kiwi Spoon, a frozen yogurt shop, is planning to move there from 736 N. Colony Road.

Businesses close for a variety of reasons, DeSarro said.

“Sometimes it’s the amount of time required to own your own business. People don’t realize that they may never see their family and they discover that it’s not how they want to spend the rest of their life,” she said. “It may not have anything to do with economy, or maybe it does.”

Route 5 is home to many chain operations, from stores such as Home Depot, Kohl’s and Lowe’s to restaurants including IHOP, Sonic and Chili’s. DeSarro said it may be difficult for independent businesses to survive because of higher rents.

“When you have a lot of competition from chains that are looking at your area, the chains can pay more money,” she said. “You have landlords, who are charging X amount of dollars and you have five chains looking and that drives up the price.”

“Landlords will think, ‘Why am I charging X, when I can get 1.5 times more with a chain?’” During the 1950s and ’60s, downtown Wallingford, like many other downtowns, experienced a decline, said Donald Roe, Wallingford’s economic development coordinator. Hoping to revitalize downtown Wallingford, Roe and a Beautification Committee attended a meeting at the National Main Street Center — part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation — in 1985.

Two years later, Wallingford Center Inc. was created as a nonprofit corporation recognized under the National Main Street guidelines. Today, thriving small businesses line Center Street.

Roe said a similar revitalization project is possible for Route 5, but it would take time. He added that the interests of areas are different, and their businesses cater to different demographics.

“For downtown, the interest is more pedestrian-oriented,” he said. “With Route 5, ... accomplishing (a revitalization project) would be very hard to do” in an area in which businesses are largely designed to serve automobile traffic.

WALLINGFORD — Lying beside the Quinnipiac River and incorporated in 1670, Wallingford, Conn., is a town steeped in history. Among the prominent names associated with the community is Moses Y. Beach, who was born in town and went on to found the Associated Press. It was also the birthplace of Lyman Hall, who signed the Declaration of Independence. George Washington rode through the town on two occasions in the late 1700s.

But there is another Wallingford, and it contains a significantly richer history. It also sits next to a river — the Thames — in the English county of Oxfordshire. It was established over a thousand years ago. Local history shows that John Moss, one of the founders of Wallingford, Conn., gave the town its name because “it’s thought that he came from Wallingford, England,” said Jerry Farrell Jr., president of the Wallingford (Conn.) Historic Preservation Trust.

The United Kingdom version of Wallingford is one of the best preserved Anglo-Saxon towns in England, said Mayor Bernard Stone. There are traces of earlier Roman occupation, but it’s the Anglo-Saxons who built the town, he said.

“Our Wallingford is a small but very historic town on the banks of the River Thames which dates back to Saxon times in about 800 A.D.,” Stone said.

The name of the town is derived from the term “ford,” Stone said, referring to a naturally shallow area in rivers and streams that is often used for crossing. In the early history of the region, Stone said, the town was known as ‘Waellingford,’ because Welsh people lived in the area. Over time, the name developed into Wallingford.

According to the local museum, in the 9th century King Alfred, the Saxon king of Wessex, defended residents of the area from a Viking attack. To defend his kingdom against further attacks he built many fortified towns. Wallingford was the biggest of the towns built by Alfred. It had three walls, with the river acting as the fourth defense. The layout of the town’s roads has remained largely unchanged.

“That does present some problems because the Saxons didn’t have enough foresight to design their roads to cater for 21st-century traffic,” Stone said.

In 1066, during the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror visited the town seeking a place to cross the Thames with his army. Lord Wigod of Wallingford was a Norman sympathizer and welcomed William’s army. One of the conqueror’s knights married the lord’s daughter, and with the marriage William instructed the Normans to build a massive castle in Wallingford in 1067. For the next 600 years, the castle dominated the town’s history. When William conquered England, he imposed a curfew of 8 p.m., but because the people of Wallingford cooperated with the Normans — who went on to take London — they were given an extra hour. Stone said the curfew bell still rings at 9 every night.

Between the castle’s completion in the following years, and the 16th century, it was considered one of the grandest castles in England. Several royals, including kings and queens, stayed at the castle. In 1652, the castle was demolished due to several factors, including the decreasing need for large castles in a more settled time. After the demolition, Wallingford took on the role of a market town, and it continues in the same tradition today.

Stone said the town is quaint and residential, with about 7,500 residents. Its historical buildings are what he appreciates most. Wallingford, Conn., is well-represented, he said. The two towns had often participated in an exchange program, but the program has dwindled, he said. Most recently, Stone said, a few residents of Wallingford, Conn., visited the town three years ago. Visitors have left mementos that are displayed in the town hall. Every year, on July 4, the town flies the Wallingford, Conn., flag. Every Christmas, Stone said, cards are sent to all of the other Wallingfords across the world.

“It is very interesting,” Wallingford, Conn., Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said of the connection with England. “When people came here, they obviously had memories and ties with people in England, and now there continues to be sharing.”

“It’s really a nice look at human relations,” said Dickinson, who has a watercolor painting of Wallingford, England, in his office.

“We don’t forget Wallingford in Connecticut,” Stone said.

While Wallingford, Conn., takes its name from the original in England, another Wallingford, in Vermont, was established by a group of travelers from Connecticut.

“Many of our original grantees came from Wallingford, Conn.,” said Joyce Barbieri, the town clerk in Wallingford, Vt.

According to the “History of Wallingford, Vermont” by Walter Thorpe, Isaac Hall was one of the town’s original proprietors. His son, Mosley Hall, was born in Wallingford, Conn., in 1772 and went on to open a tavern in Wallingford, Vt. Lent Ives was also one of the town’s original settlers, according to Thorpe. The Ives name is well known in Wallingford, Conn., as well. Lent Ives was born in Wallingford, Conn., in 1735.

Wallingford, Vt., was settled in 1761 when Isaac Hall and 63 of his associates were granted roughly six square miles of land from the governor of New Hampshire, Thorpe wrote.

It’s not unusual to see groups of travelers settling communities during this time period, said Farrell. At the time, Wallingford, Conn., was strictly an agricultural community. “The whole issue with any agricultural community is that over time, the available agricultural land gets maxed out. It can only support so many people at once.”

Many Wallingford, Conn., families also migrated to Ohio and upstate New York during the same period, Farrell said. Those who were not in line to inherit land were often forced to push off with a small group to find a life of their own, he said.

Wallingford, Vt., is a town of about 2,100 residents, Barbieri said. It consists of three villages: South Wallingford, East Wallingford and Wallingford.

Many of the town’s residents work in nearby Rutland. There is one major industry in the town, Barbieri said, making handles for pitchforks and garden tools. The company used to make the entire tool, and dates back 200 years, but over time work was phased out. There is only one main road in the town — Route 7.

“It goes right through the town,” Barbieri said.

There are only two restaurants, three stores and a bed and- breakfast, she said. But the town is located only a short drive from several popular ski resorts. Of note in the town is a statue named “The Boy with the Leaking Boot,” Barbieri said. The statue shows a young boy holding up a boot that is leaking water. It was donated by local residents in 1898. Similar statues exist throughout the world, she said.

In the 1980s, Barbieri said, she visited Wallingford, England. “It’s beautiful there,” she said, “and it’s only like 20 minutes from London on a train.”

In terms of population, Wallingford, Conn., is the largest of the Wallingfords, with about 45,000 people. The smallest Wallingford is likely a neighborhood in Seattle, Wash., but population figures were not available. Officials with knowledge of the neighborhood weren’t available. This Wallingford differs because, according to the neighborhood’s website, it is named after John Wallingford, not Wallingford, England. John Wallingford, who died in 1913, dealt in real estate, and once owned the land which is now the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle.

But Wallingford, Pa., was named in the same vein as Wallingford, Conn. In 2007, Money Magazine named that Wallingford, the largest community in Pennsylvania’s Nether Providence Township, the ninth best place to live in the nation.

The Pennsylvania town features 17 parks and affordable housing, and is only about 20 minutes outside Philadelphia, making it a desirable location, according to the magazine article. The 4.6-square-mile town is filled with “lush green hills, old stone houses and expansive parks ...” the article states.

Farrell said he recalls hearing about the town while attending Villanova University just outside of Philadelphia. It was founded in 1687 and established in 1776, and is also named after Wallingford, England. The town is home to about 14,000 residents. It is mostly residential and, like Wallingford, Conn., has a historic train station. The station was designed by well-known Victorian architect Frank Furness.

The township “has just completed a sidewalk to the Wallingford train station and is now in the process of designing and building a new sidewalk on Wallingford Avenue to lead students to Wallingford Elementary, which is part of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District,” said Assistant Township Manager Dennis Sheehan.

Sheehan said he often travels to Boston and notices the sign for Wallingford, Conn., on his way through Connecticut.

“... I pass the Wallingford sign on the parkway and think to myself ‘Home? Not quite yet,’” he said.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

HARTFORD (AP) — The U.S. Department of Transportation has rejected a request by the state to streamline the paperwork for a multimillion-dollar high-speed rail project.

Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari told U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty at a congressional hearing on Tuesday that state transportation officials must keep three grants separate for the $365 million rail line from New Haven to Springfield, Mass. The federal portion is about $191 million, and the state has committed about $175 million.

The manager of the 62-mile rail project, John Bernick, said in an interview Wednesday that Connecticut hoped to establish one fund that would consolidate money earmarked for numerous transactions such as paying workers and buying material and equipment. He said tapping three accounts is a “bit of an administrative nightmare.”

“It would have given us a lot more flexibility if it were one grant, but the project marches on,” he said.

Work has been divided into three phases. One stage is north of Hartford, including a Windsor-to-Springfield route.

The second phase is a 10-mile stretch between Meriden and Newington, and the third stage is south of Hartford to New Haven, Bernick said.

The project calls for additional double track, sidings, signaling and control systems and repair and replacement of bridges and culverts.

Final designs are being drafted, and fiber optic cables have been installed.

Construction is expected to begin next summer, and the project should be completed by late 2016.

The new service will connect with Metro-North Railroad commuter rail and Amtrak Acela high-speed rail service on the New Haven Line to New York and on the Northeast Corridor to New London and Boston.

The project calls for service every 30 minutes during peak periods and every 60 minutes at other times. Speeds would reach up to 110 mph.

Monday, July 8, 2013

The unusual “skew arch” underpass in Yalesville, built of red granite, has been carrying the weight of trains since the late 1800s, so the state figures it can handle a few more trains per day when the second track is replaced and high-speed commuter trains start running between New Haven and Springfield in the next year or two.

Photo by Christopher Zajac, courtesy of Record Journal

WALLINGFORD - The red granite railroad trestle crossing over Route 150 in Yalesville has a long history. It was built in the mid- or late-1800s by stonemason William MacKenzie, who is buried in the historic Center Street Cemetery — with a stone fittingly made of red granite.

Known as the Yalesville Culvert, it has carried many a train on the New Haven-to-Hartford run on its dual tracks since the advent of railroad travel in the 19th century . Through much of the 20th century, its tracks continued to be well used and the structure remained sound.

But in the 1980s, one of the tracks running through town was removed when Amtrak service was reduced, said John Bernick, a Wallingford resident and structural engineer who is managing the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail project. As part of the project, another track will be added to allow for increased traffic in both directions. This will accommodate the 50 rounds trips that the new commuter rail will make when at full service. The state Department of Transportation will take on the challenge of running another track over the culvert, Bernick said.

Trains fueled industrial and transportation growth in this country through much of the 19th and 20th centuries, but became less popular with the mass production of motor vehicles. However, state officials are again pushing trains as the future of mass transportation.

But while nearly everything about train travel has changed, the Yalesville Culvert has remained a constant. It was initially built tall enough to allow for the passage of horse- drawn hay racks, so the local landmark’s height is able to accommodate most of the motor vehicles that now rule the road.

“I think it’s unique in that it is quite high,” said Bernick. “I don’t think you see that too often. I drive underneath there all the time. I can’t think of another one that tall.” The Yalesville Culvert is called a skew arch because it meets Route 150 (Main Street) at 30 degrees, not a right angle. And skew arches are rare, Bernick said. “You don’t see them too much over roadways. Over time, many were replaced with steel structures.”

Ray Chappell, president of the Wallingford Historic Society, said it’s reported that the culvert was the first skew arch built in the United States.

“Both sides are not exactly parallel with each other,” he said.

1838? 1841? 1872?

The culvert was built that way to accommodate the old turnpike, which once ran from Meriden to New Haven. To build the structure at such anangle, MacKenzie had to measure and cut each stone individually. It cost $26,000 to construct.

MacKenzie came to this country from Dyke, Scotland in 1813. Newspaper archives, along with visitor information provided by the town, place the culvert’s construction in 1841, although the town’s website says it was 1838. William MacKenzie’s great-grandson, William Neal MacKenzie,maintained that the culvert was built in 1841. He died in 1999. The state’s log of bridges also dates its construction to 1841. But in a 1995 Record-Journal article, historian Bruce Clouette, author of “Connecticut’s Historical Highway Bridges,” said he thought the bridge was built in the 1870s. Clouette argued that the railroad was constructed in 1838 with only a single track. He found in an 1873 Connecticut Railroad Commission Report that double-tracking was completed in 1872, “which is probably the date of the bridge,” Clouette said, because it’s wide enough for two tracks.

If built in the 1870s, the culvert would not be the first of its kind in the country. For example, in 1857, construction of a skew arch railroad bridge was completed in Reading,

Penn., according to the Historic American Engineering Record.

The bridge may have been widened, Clouette said in 1995, but there’s no explanation to as why it would be a double track bridge in the 1840s.

For Chappell, “there’s enough published on it in different books that says it is the first skew arch underpass in the country.”

“I think the best way to say it is it’s reported as the first,” he said.

Bernick said the bridge was built using wood first, with stone laid over a wooden form. Currently under the bridge is a heavy black timber, which serves as a ballast retainer “keeping the bridge from falling down on the road,” Bernick said. In adding a new track to the bridge, Bernick said, the state DOT will have to replace the timber and “make it so it’s a little bit nicer.”

Wood will be replaced with concrete, he said, adding that work will be overseen by the state’s Historic Preservation Office to “make sure everything we’re doing is fitting with the historic nature of the bridge.”

Enter the Bambino

The bridge has also become a point of lore when it comes to baseball legend Babe Ruth. On Oct. 2, 1920, Ruth was driving a new roadster to Springfield when he collided with a truck at the Yalesville Culvert, according to The Morning Oregonian.

“He landed in a field with his car wrecked, even to the steering post, but he and a friend, who was his passenger, escaped unhurt except for scratches from the broken windshield,” the article states.

According to The Morning Record, Ruth was driving through the area from New York City, where hours earlier he had picked up a new Packard roadster. In this account, Ruth was unable to negotiate the sharp turn at the culvert, which has since been straightened, “and crashed into the concrete abutment.”

In its many years, the bridge has been through its share of history. Bernick said that with its engineering, it will continue to stand for years to come.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

WALLINGFORD — The Twilight Tunes concert series on Wednesdays starts next
month at the parade grounds.

Michelle Bjorkman,
the town’s superintendent of recreation, says the program has a real family
atmosphere and people usually bring picnic dinners or end up eating nearby
restaurants afterward. Attendance is free. The Parks and Recreation Department
co-sponsors the event with Stop & Shop.

Avenue Groove will give the first of five performances on July 10 from 7
to 8:30 p.m.

Singer Laura Noonan, music
director at Suffield Middle School, leads the six-piece R&B/funk cover band
described on its website as having “attitude.” The group has an iPhone app
complete with free songs, photos, videos and a schedule of their upcoming shows.
Just search for Avenue Groove in the App Store.

The Beatles Forever tribute band follows on July 17; Memphis Soul will
perform on July 24; 2003 Connecticut Star Search winner Latanya Farrell takes
the stage on Aug. 7 and The Cover Story Band goes on Aug. 14.

In the event of rain, the concerts are usually canceled by
4 p.m. on the day of the show, Bjorkman said.

As published
in the Record Journal Wednesday July 3, 2013By Brianna GurciulloRecord-Journal staff
bgurciullo@record-journal.com(203) 317-2231WALLINGFORD — Philip Ventre watched hands shoot up
when he asked who played a musical instrument among the roughly 1,400 students
who attended the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra’s children’s concerts in
April.

Ventre, the orchestra’s musical director, said the annual show has
inspired countless young people to study classical music since 1980. The
tradition, held at the Paul Mellon Arts Center on the Choate Rosemary Hall
campus, will continue in 2014 with an annual golf tournament benefiting the
program scheduled for August.

“It’s important because it gives these
children exposure to classical music, which they probably don’t have,” said
Ventre, who helped found the WSO in 1974.

The Uria and Johanna Fishbein
Charitable Foundation will host its Memorial Golf Classic on Aug. 10 at the
Tradition Golf Club. The eighth annual event will benefit the Uria and Johanna
Fishbein-WSO Children’s Concert Program, which offers two performances to public
and parochial students in grades three through six each spring.

WSO board
member Elizabeth Mitchell, who helps coordinate the show, said the musicians
serve as role models for the students.“They’re
going to work harder on their instruments so they’re going to get as good as
that,” she said. “It gives kids incentive, inspiration if they are actually
studying a musical instrument, as well as music itself is good for creativity
and thinking your own thoughts.”

Johanna Fishbein, who died in 1997, was
a longtime WSO board member. She owned a local dance studio until the early
1940s and gave free ballroom dancing lessons at area schools.

Relatives
established the charitable foundation to honor the legacy of Johanna Fishbein
and her husband, Uria, after he died in 2004.

Ventre, who attends the
golf tournament every year, said Johanna Fishbein was “instrumental” in raising
money for Wallingford’s professional orchestra.

Mitchell said the golf
tournament is one of the major sources of funding for the children’s concert,
which was the brainchild of the Junior Woman’s Club (now known as Wallingford
Community Women) and Ventre. The proceeds help WSO staff pay the professional
musicians and for bus transportation to the show.

The WSO has also
received money for the program from the town’s Rotary Club Foundation and from
national foundations. The nonprofit organization won its first grant from the
James H. Napier Foundation, which favors local initiatives for children
and families, this year.

“Music can be helpful
in developing IQ and emotional stability and so forth. All of those things kind
of go hand-in-hand,” Mitchell said about the concert’s benefits.

She
added that some students have sent letters to the WSO after they attended the
concerts, providing commentary on the music. One student wrote that the show
“for a short time, took away the tensions” in his life.

“That’s what
music does,” Mitchell said. “They listen and it’s kind of the only time they’re
honest with their own thoughts — in terms of what the music is conveying to
them.”

Mitchell said the town has a long history of musical excellence in
its schools, highlighting Richard Otto, who led the Lyman Hall High School band
to a national music conference in 1969. But Ventre, who teaches music at Choate,
said elementary and middle schools have increasingly cut classical music courses
from their curricula.

Proceeds from the golf tournament will also go
toward the fund for an annual scholarship awarded to a Wallingford high school
graduate.

Tournament costs total $150, which includes greens fee, cart,
driving range, lunch, dinner, and a giveaway bag. Players will tee off at 1 p.m.
on the course at 37 Harrison Road.

WALLINGFORD — The Wallingford Symphony Orchestra
will present its annual Outdoors Pops concert on Sunday, July 7, at 7:30 p.m.,
on the front lawn of the Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall, 333
Christian St. Bring chairs and picnic supper. Donations are welcome. The
performance is funded by the Wallingford Park and Recreation
Department and the Wadsworth
Family Foundation.

"Please Share This Flyer.. Lets motivate 5 states (CT. NY. MA.RI. NH.) of in recovery people, or supporters of the recovery movement to come spend the day, have some fun, and support a great organization"... The RIR BAND

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A Message From The Dry Dock Founder - Rich Figlewski

Rich Figlewski, Founder and President "The Dry Dock "

"The Dry Dock provides a sober alternative to the community. A friendly, open and supportive place where fellowship is the cornerstone of recovery, an environment where an open heart, mind and understanding of recovery and it's pitfalls is openly shared, where living in the principles of a twelve step program is encouraged. I am I am also a recovering alcoholic and addict.

In January of 2010 two friends in recovery died. One drank himself to death and was found in his apartment 4 days later. The other wrote a note to his mother, went in the bathroom and shot up an overdose of heroin. The loneliness and pain were just too much for them. This story repeats itself over and over, daily at times, in the recovery community. I left my job in February 2010, took my severance and retirement and started the Dry Dock. I believe that by having a safe place for people saves lives. We survive on donations and the kindness of others. There are no salaries.

Your contribution will help keep us open. Your contribution will help save lives". Remember, "if you are not careful, you might just help somebody." Read More

As part of my effort to live a little healthier I am planning to walk 500 miles between now and the Autumn Equinox (sorry Lisa for calling it a Solstice before).

Autumn begins on Sunday, September 22, 2013 (in 84 days) so I basically have to walk 6 miles a day on average. This will be “planned” walking and not just steps throughout the day. So my “walk time” from the parking garage to Union Station and then from Grand Central terminal to 731 Lexington (until we move offices in a couple of weeks) would count but “steps” in the office do not. I will not count walking from my desk to a meeting (for example) but if I take a break and walk down to the 6th floor and then back up the stairs to 26 I will.I am interested to see if I can do this and maybe by chronicling my effort maybe a few others will take up their own causes to walk a little bit more and get healthy. I will add segments to this post to keep people up to date on my effort.Hope you can join along with me to a healthier you. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 1 – 3 miles made, 497 to go over 83 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office.

July 2 – 6 miles made, 491 to go over 82 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunch hour walk in Central Park

July 3 – 6 miles made, 485 to go over 81 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunch hour walk around the inside perimeter of the building at 731 Lexington from floor 26 down to floor 6 and back up.

July 4 – 4 miles made, 481 to go over 80 remaining days. This was the distance covered mowing the lawn (pedometer steps converted to miles; 6,000+); as well as the distance covered parking down the road from my Aunt’s house and walking to and from for the 4th of July party.

July 5 – No additional walking made, 481 miles to go over 79 remaining days.

July 6 – 7 miles made, 474 to go over 78 remaining days. This was the distance covered walking the campaign route as well as the distance covered the Moran / Sheehan / Highland properties collecting at the fireworks.

July 7 – No additional measurable walking made, 474 miles to go over 77 remaining days.

July 8 – 4 miles made, 470 to go over 76 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a short (but measurable) lunch hour walk around the inside perimeter of the building at 731 Lexington

July 9 – 6 miles made, 464 to go over 75 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunch hour walk in Central Park

July 10 – 6 miles made, 458 to go over 74 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunch hour walk in Central Park

July 11 – 6 miles made, 452 to go over 73 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunch hour walk in Central Park.

July 12 – 6 miles made, 446 to go over 72 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunch hour walk in Central Park. Starting Monday the 15th I will be working at 120 Park Street so part of my inbound and outbound walking will be lessened and I’ll need to make it up elsewhere.

July 13 – 4 miles made, 442 to go over 71 remaining days. This was walking for literature drops for the campaign on Saturday.

July 14 – 2 miles made, 440 to go over 70 remaining days. This was walking for literature drops for the campaign on Sunday.

July 15 – 3 miles made, 437 to go over 69 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office

July 16 – 3 miles made, 434 to go over 68 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office

July 17 – 6 miles made, 428 to go over 67 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunchtime walk.

July 18 – 6 miles made, 422 to go over 66 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office as well as a lunchtime walk.

July 19 – 3 miles made, 419 to go over 65 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office

July 20 – No additional measureable walking made, 419 miles to go over 64 remaining days.

July 21 – 6 miles made, 413 to go over 63 remaining days. This was a day of campaign walking.

July 22 – 6 miles made, 407 to go over 62 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

July 23 – 6 miles made, 401 to go over 61 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

July 24 – 6 miles made, 395 to go over 60 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

July 25 – 6 miles made, 389 to go over 59 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

July 26 – 6 miles made, 383 to go over 58 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

July 27 – 6 miles made, 377 to go over 57 remaining days. This was a day of campaign walking and the distance covered while moving my lawn.

July 28 – No additional measureable walking made, 377 miles to go over 56 remaining days.

July 29 – 12 miles made, 365 to go over 55 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

July 30 – 5 miles made, 360 to go over 54 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office (a little light on the distance today than the normal 6 miles).

July 31 – 12 miles made, 348 to go over 53 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then a walk after work to Ground Zero and the Freedom Tower in NYC.

Aug. 1 – 5 miles made, 343 to go over 52 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office (a little light on the distance today than the normal 6 miles).

Aug. 2 – 6 miles made, 337 to go over 51 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

Aug. 3 – 6 miles made, 331 to go over 50 remaining days. This was campaign walking and the distance covered while moving my lawn.

Aug. 5 – 12 miles made, 313 to go over 48 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office, some walking at lunch, and then campaign walking at night.

Aug. 6 – 9 miles made, 304 to go over 47 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office, some walking at lunch and then campaign walking at night.

Aug. 7 – 5 miles made, 299 to go over 46 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and some walking at lunch.

Aug. 8 – 5 miles made, 294 to go over 45 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and some walking at lunch.

Aug. 9 – 4 miles made, 290 to go over 44 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

Aug. 10 – 6 miles made, 284 to go over 43 remaining days. This was the distance covered mowing my lawn and then for some campaign walking.

Aug. 11 – 5 miles made, 279 to go over 42 remaining days. This was the distance covered campaign walking.

Aug. 12 – 11 miles made, 268 to go over 41 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office, some walking at lunch, and then campaign walking at night.

Aug. 13 – 5 miles made, 263 to go over 40 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and some walking at lunch.

Aug. 14 – 5 miles made, 258 to go over 39 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

Aug. 15 – 9 miles made, 249 to go over 38 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

Aug. 16 – 4 miles made, 245 to go over 37 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office.

Aug. 17 – 5 miles made, 240 to go over 36 remaining days. This was the distance covered mowing my lawn and then campaign walking at night.

Sept. 3 – 4 miles made, 164 to go over 19 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office.

Sept. 4 – 7 miles made, 157 to go over 18 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

Sept. 5 – 12 miles made, 145 to go over 17 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

Sept. 6 – 7 miles made, 138 to go over 16 remaining days. This was the normal walking to and from the parking garage, the train stations and my office and then campaign walking at night.

Sept. 7 – 8 miles made, 130 to go over 15 remaining days. This was campaign walking, putting up signs, an afternoon with the kids and mowing the lawn.

As it stands I need to cover 8.6 miles a day on average over the remaining 15 days to hit the mark as I run out of time; that is a higher per day average than when I started due to “short” days and worse than the 6.85 average I was recently at but it is still permissible especially since we are doing a “biggest loser” contest at work through to the week before Thanksgiving.

I know it’s autumn in two weeks but I am still thinking I can do this.

About Me

I have been working in the information technology field in one form or the other since 1996. I am currently employed full time at Tallan, Inc. as a Senior Cloud Infrastructure Consultant. I live in Wallingford Connecticut, which is my hometown where I have lived my whole life.

I am married to my wife Renata and a father to four children, three boys - 12 years, 8 years and 7 years old, and one girl aged 10 (by the end of 2016).

I have a passion for technology and I clearly do not sleep much.

I’m always looking for input so drop me a note and let me know what you’d like to see.